Running
by SonicH2O
Summary: facing Jack,he raised his tumb and index finger, making a pretend gun, and pretended to aim and fire at Jack. He mouthed the word “bullseye” toward her, waved casually again and slid down into the passenger seat of the car and drove away.AU Jate
1. Booze, Blondes, and bloodie Bruenettes

_Okay, so this is an ongoing Jate fic. AU some time after episode 3x04. Off island, and Kate is off the hook, leagally anyway. But the government weren't the only ones she made mad at her while on the run._

_Will most likely feature all of the losties at some point btw. _

_just give it a chance..please?_

* * *

It was getting old. The reporters, the fangirls, the covers on People Magazine, the interviews. All of it. Jack Sheppard wanted one thing, and for all the money he had due to the massive compensation check Oceanic had handed each and every one of them getting off the island, he still coulnd't get it. Kate. That was all, but as soon as she had been cleared of charges, she had run. Again. No goodbye, no secret encrypted messages, just gone.

Shaking his head sadly, Jack took a swig of his drink, and looked around for the first blonde he could find. Never bruennette, just seeing long brunette hair gave him more hope then he cared to have. Walking over to a particularly attractive girl who had been glancing at him all night, he flirted, and soon they were on the way back to his apartment.

Kissing her neck, he through his jacket over the Group Picture of the castaways that had been taken on the day Sayid had Finally Triangulated the distress call, and managed to break through the "snow globe" they had been trapped in. He shook his head slightly, clearing his memories of the island again, and continued to direct the girl-Jennifer? Mindy?maybe, towards his bedroom in his Manhattan flat.

The door bell rang. Rolling over, and onto Gina , he looked at the clock. It was 4 in the morning. Groaning, he got out of bed, pulling on a shirt and sweats, and went to the door.

He opened it slowly. And saw the one person he never thought he would see again.

"Jack," She gasped, stumbling into him, one hand clutching her side. He could feel the warm wet blood on shirt where their bodies connected.

"Kate-," he started as she passed out in his arms.

* * *

_Yeah…not looking to good, but I think it's safe to say she is gonna survive the first chap. Anyways, next chapter you get to see how Kate got hurt, and WHO hurt her._

_The drill is Read and Review, the more reviews I get the quicker the update: )_

_P.S. I know this chapter was short, but they will get longer. Promise._


	2. Before the Bloodied Reunion

Most updates won't come this fast, but i figured while you are hooked you might as well find out what happened.

P.s. Check out my other Jate stories _Either_, _BLink if you still have my back,_ and _Defying Instinct_

* * *

**4 months ago:**

_It had Been over. After what head seemed like forever, the jury had declared her innocent. That night, all of the former Losties had celebrated her release, including her. Ignoring all of Sawyers sexual innuendos, she had found Jack, leaning against a balcony, looking over the city of Des Moines._

_"Hey," she said softly, causing him to drop his wine glass over the railing. He had been like that, ever since he had left the others camp-jumpier. It worried her._

_Giving a slight chuckle he replied , "Congratulations," a soft smile appearing on his lips. Though Kate had learned long ago that the magic in that smile was in his eyes._

_Starring into them, she approached him slowly. Their eyes never breaking contact from one anther, she slowly pushed her lips against his. Without a wine glass to worry about, his left hand quickly found its way to her hip, while his right hand caressed her cheek._

_"Kate…." He breathed. Her name sounded magical whenever he said it, and the lust and love that filled the single syllable was to much for Kate, silent tears of happiness blurring her vision. "I want this, I love you and I want this…," her heart swelled with joy, and the tears silently flowed over her cheeks, which he gently wiped away with his thumb. "This is it though. There's no more running, there's no more fixing, there's just us" He finished, a silent vow on his part, and a question to her._

_"I want this Jack," her voice not wavering, her eyes holding his, trying to convey how she wanted to spend the rest of her life in his arms._

_He kissed her for the first time then, slower and more fulfilling then any other kiss she had ever experienced. Time stopped as his lips massaged hers and his tongue crept into her mouth, binding them together forever._

_She pulled away, unable to breathe, though she could never be sure if it was because of her happiness, or the kiss._

_Then her world came crashing down. In that one moment of happiness, Jason Browe, the man she had conned into helping her rob a bank to get Tom's airplane was starring back at her, the most malicious and knowing smirk on his face._

_Looking at jacks face, his beautiful eyes still half closed in the same happiness he thought she was sharing, her heart broke, knowing that whatever had brought Jason to Des Moines would tear her newly found peace to shreds'._

**Now:**

Staggering through the night, she felt the cool red liquid slipping through her fingers. She had been on the run. Stupid, she scolded her self. She had though she had lost them, so she had entered Manhattan, looking for Jack, looking to set things right, looking to find that happiness again. But Jason had been waiting. "This is a warning," he had said, stabbing the knife into her side. His hand had muffled her scream. And he had left her their, to die in a ally behind a random pub she had followed Jack and his blonde "friend" out of.

Reading the apartment numbers, she scanned for apartment 423. Maybe it was the dizziness that made her laugh at the irony of his apartment number. Those damn cursed numbers, haunting them everywhere. Hurley had been right.

Stumbling into the door, she winced in pain as her hand applied more pressure onto the wound. Knocking as fiercely as she could manage, she stood, and let out a breathe as she heard the creak of someone's footsteps, coming closer to her.

His eyes were the first thing she saw, even in the dark. The shock and hurt flashed across them, and before she could decide if now was a good time for some witty one liner, she fell into his arms.

* * *

_See , it was longer. Not much , but once the plot picks up so will the chap lengths._

_In case anyone is wondering, the Jason guy is from Whatever the Case maybe, from season 1. I figured he would make a good bitter villain._

_And you will see Kate has gotten herself mixed up with more then a bitter old boyfriend, within the next few chaps._

_Yeah I know same cliffhanger…BUT I gave you a jate scene…those seem to be in short supply these days._

_Cheers to Wed. and a potential Jate scene._

_You know the drill please read and review!_

_and check out my other fics!_


	3. They actually Talk in this one

_kay, i am not the happiest with this chap. However, it sets up the next chatpter, which is where you will learn why Jason is after Kate, and more._

_R and R and pray that Jate makes it though the upcoming skex scene we all dread!_

_

* * *

_His heart stopped. The blood was cold against his chest, and the fact that it was Kate's, that scarred the crap out of him. 

Acting as quickly as he could, he gently but quickly grabbed her knees and carried her back towards the bed room.

"Gina!" he yelled to the woman in his bed, "Hurry, go get all of the towels from the bathroom, and anything that's in the medicine cabinet!"

"What…?" The girl said sleepily, until Jack rounded the corner, carrying Kate Austen, someone she instantly recognized.

"Hurry Gina!" Jack yelled again, this time more violently, as he straddled Kate's lap, applying pressure to the cut.

Running of towards the bathroom she muttered "My name is Amy….", quickly she grabbed the things and reappeared at Jacks side.

"Come on Kate…" he muttered as he cut open her shirt, seeing threw the blood the vicious stab wound. "Damn…" he breathed.

"Gina, go get the sewing stuff from the side drawer…" he said. He hated this, but she needed stitches now. Grabbing the needle and threading it, he leaned down to Kate's ear "Katie…listen, this is gonna hurt okay, but just stay calm, your gonna be fine." Kate's eyes fluttered open slightly and a week smile appeared on her face. His heart swelled at the site of her smile. That was his Kate, brave no matter what. Brushing the hair from her face he attempted to gently sew her up. Looking up every so often, he saw the silent tears streaming down her face. "It's okay Kate," he said reassuringly, talking her through it.

After what seemed like forever, he looked up at Kate. Now that he was sure she would be okay, he wanted answers. Sighing he got off the bed, looking back at her beautiful sleeping face, and looked around. He realized then that Gina had left, when he wasn't sure, nor did he care.

Looking at the clock, he went to the phone and called in sick. Someone had some questions, and this time, he wasn't letting her get away so easily.

She was vaguely aware of his hand and his voice as he sewed her up. She wanted to scream, but she found she didn't have the strength to. After what seemed like eternity, the stabbing feeling stopped in her side, and she felt her self dipping completely into unconsciousness.

_She woke up on the beach, looking at the back of a white lab coat. A man with short brown hair was skipping rocks in a medical coat. Getting up, she walked over to him._

_"Tom!" she screamed, throwing herself into his arms._

_"Hi Katie" he said, holding her by her shoulders._

_"This is a dream isn't it?" she whispered._

_"More of a communication with the dead really," Tom said smugly._

_"What?" she asked startled, pulling back from his arms._

_Suddenly, blood covered his chest and the bullet wounds were there._

_"NO time to chat Katie…I'm sorry about that. Really, I'm only allowed to deliver a message: Don't run alone. Katie, Not if you want Jack to live." Tom's eyes were white and the beach started to spin._

With a gasp, she sat up, wincing as her side exploded in pain. She smelled eggs, gingerly, getting up, she grabbed the shirt folded on a chair next to her, a post-it with her name on top of it, and held herself up against the wall, following her nose.

Emerging in a clean modern kitchen, she saw a shirtless Jack making breakfast. She couldn't help it when she felt the room spin again watching his bare muscles flex. Or the gasp that escaped her lips when she saw the long jagged scar that ran from his underarm to waist, that hadn't been there before their stay at the Others camp.

Wheeling around, Jacks eyes met hers, and the love and concern radiating in them made guilt swell in her chest.

"Hi," he said softly.

"Hey," she said softly, looking into his eyes, realizing what a mistake that was immediately. She was screwed, there was no way he was letting her run again.

* * *

_Yeah, like i said, this is more of a set up chap. Hope it wasn't to bad. I wanted to get it up before i forgot, but by far this isn't my fav. piece of writing._

_p.s. pray for jate!_


	4. Staring Contest or SonicH20's apology

Um...sorry? Id give you an excuse, but you have all been around fanfics long enough to have heard every excuse in the book, so why bore you? there is no excuse for a 3 month hiatus (unless you are the creators of lost), so Im sorry.

* * *

He was a horrible cook. Usually girls think that the love of their life is gonna be the kinda guy who volunteers for cooking dinner, however Kate prayed desperately that Jack had no such ambitions. She was afraid that she had just survived a vicious attack on her life, only to be accidentally killed by food poisoning, courtesy of the love of her life. However, she was starving, so she ate. 

Jack, seeming to know the effects of his cooking, wisely sat there, letting his food get cold as he watched her eat, a mix of relief and distrust written on his face, as if he expected her to bolt at any second. Not that she could blame him.

After she had eaten enough of the "_death eggs_" as she decided to call them, she returned his quiet stare with one of her own. They sat like that for minutes, but it seemed like hours. His eyes seemed to be trying to scan through her memories, trying to get the answers he was looking for without talking, without having to ask her why she had left him, again. Or why she had shown up half dead at his door step for the first time in 4 months. (Those cursed numbers again.) Eventually, he sighed, seeming to admit to himself that he didn't in fact have any telepathic powers, and would in fact have to talk to her to receive answers. She waited.

She watched as he slowly rubbed his short cropped hair, his irritation being one the only emotions he could never hide, instead, it manifested itself in a cute nervous gesture. She hide a smile at seeing him, all of his quirks, from tattoos, to deadly cooking again. God she had missed him.

"Why...,"his voice cracked. Glancing away again, he coughed, trying to regain his composure. "Why…erm…why did you come back?" he whispered, looking intently at her plate, still unable to meet her eyes, afraid of her answer.

She swallowed hard. He hadn't asked why she had left, only why she had come back. Kate realized that she hadn't really thought that he would have moved on, he had already forgiven her for so much, she hadn't realized that leaving might have in fact been a breaking point. But she still owed him an answer to why she had bled all over his bed.

"I um…when I was on the run…the first time, I robbed a bank, to get Tom's airplane back. I used, what I thought, were a couple of low life criminals to pull it off." She swallowed hard, as Jack digested the new information. "Except, they weren't lowlife criminals, the ring leader of the group, is actually the son of a huge mafia crime ring…"

"Geez Kate…" he breathed, again resting his head in his hands. Kate was relieved; it seemed he had put the pieces together. She had been cleared of charges of Wayne's murder, and all other crimes she had been accused of, however, there hadn't been enough to convict her of robbing the New Mexico Bank. If she had gone to the police, she would have been admitting her involvement in the crime, and would wind up right back in jail.

"So..um…for the last four months, what? Where have you been?" He asked slowly.

"The night of the party, when we um…"

"Promised to be together and give us a chance?" he finished for her, meeting her eyes for the first time during the conversation.

"Yeah" she whispered, feeling tears threaten to spill.

"It hurt me too Jack." She said quietly, "I didn't want to go, but…Jason was at the party. His family connections had kept him outta jail, but he was kinda mad at me for shooting him in the leg, and for conning him out of billions of dollars. He said I owed him that money. All of it. There on the spot."

"How much?" Jack asked, tenetively, knowing that if she asked he would give her every penny he owned and live in a cardboard box for the rest of his life to keep her safe.

"Lets just say, that it's more then all of the compensation checks we got" Kate said, flinching, as Jack fell out of his chair.

Pulling himself up, he stuttered. "That's um, hehe, that's a lot of money."

"Plus interest." She added, causing him to slip again. "So, I couldn't pay, and well, I couldn't drag you into it, so I , I ran."

Jack stood up and walked across the kitchen angrily. Turning around quickly he yelled "Why didn't you come get me? I would have HELPED YOU! I would have come with you!"

"I panicked Jack…I...I didn't want to see you get hurt...," Kate whispered as tears spilled down her face.

"I just…I would have come with you Katie." He whispered, defeated.

Walking over to him slowly, she put her hand on his shoulder, turning him towards her. He rested his forehead on hers, and kissed her nose tenderly. "Its not over yet though, is it? You're still running."

"Yes," she whispered as she felt her heart tearing to pieces again.

"Then I'm coming with you."

Kate started to protest, but then remembered her dream about Tom "_Don't run alone. Katie, Not if you want Jack to live." _That is what he had said, and for some reason, Kate couldn't disobey Toms warning. Smiling slightly, knowing that in some twisted warped way, that they were finally getting their chance, she kissed him lightly, cupping his face in her hands, and bringing it down to hers.

As they pulled away, Jack asked "So how exactly did you get stabbed?"

Flinching at the memory, Kate answered "That's a story for a different day….but how exactly did you get that scar?"

Laughing, he whispered, "That's a story for another day too" as he pulled her towards his bedroom.

* * *

"Is she still inside?" Jason asked into his ear piece. 

"Yes," responded the voice on the other end. "Do you want me to pull the plug?"

"No… wait till she leaves. I want to see just how much we can toy with Maggie before she breaks." Jason said, a silent smirk on his face. "set the TNT, but wait for my signal"

* * *

So, yeah. THis is pretty "out there " huh. Kate was invovled with the mafia...yeah. So if i didn't just totally jump the shark let me know. R and R, since that is what motivates me to write. Hopefully the chap. overall wasn't to bad. I haven't writtne in forever, so it was harder to get started. 

lostfox- thanks for kicking my butt into gear, knowing someonw outthere was still interested after all this time really got to me.

R and R


	5. When everything goes Boom

Kate woke up the next morning, startled to feel the warmth of a body next to her, before the days events finally hit her….the _amazing _days events finally hit her. Careful of her side she turned over her eyes level with a still sleeping Jack's shoulder. She gently traced the tattoo there, something she had secretly been dying to do since the moment she saw him. She smiled softly as her index finger ran along the 5 in the middle, she knew what that meant at least. She looked at his face for the first time, she had only seen him asleep once before, when she had drugged him to make him sleep, and she wanted to see that soft expression again. Even when he was happy, when Jack was awake, his eyes and face were always slightly guarded; afraid to give to much away and afraid to let anyone to close. She had only ever seen him lose that guarded look in his eyes once, last night…she smiled again at the memory.

Jack stirred and in his sleep, his face changing from the peaceful expression it had once been into a deep frown, to rival those Kate had seen him wear on some of the darkest days on the island. A nightmare, she guessed.

"no….dad…stop….no please not her…let her go….JULIET!" he burst up eyes wide fearful, muscles poised to attack. His gaze finally rested on hers , though seeing her concerned expression seemed to put him back on guard, his expression hardening instantly as he quickly turned to jump out of bed. Kate swallowed hard. She watched as he hurridly flung his clothing on, his long jagged scar glistening in the sunlight that was leaking through the cracks in the blinds.

His scar….the one physical scar the others seemed to have left Jack with, but maybe there was more. There had been a Juliet among the others, one that had helped them escape captivity, but that couldn't be it could it? Jack had mentioned his father, and he had been dead before they got to the island, Jack had said so himself….So who was Juliet? _Maybe it was all just a dream_ she thought…that could be it. People have bad dreams that made no sense. Just before she woke up shed had a dream about her middle school being on the former site of a 1800's factory that was owned by the band GreenDay, so obviously not everything in the dream world had a real world link…but Jack had shouted another woman's name less then 2 hours after they had been together, and now was acting very on guard. She gave up, whatever that dream was about had him upset, and she knew she wouldn't get it out of him now. But she would know, she just had to play her cards right. Just because she was with him because she loved him didn't mean she couldn't drop a few hints and get him to reveal thing or two if she had to. With a grunt of pain as she twisted her side, she slid out of bed to followed him. He was furiously flipping through channels, to fast to process what was even on, obviously trying to keep busy.

"…Wanna talk about it?" she asked from the door frame where she was leaning.

"No" he said curtly, his eyes still fixed angrily on the TV in front of him.

She sighed, giving up for the moment, deciding to change the topic.

"…look….other then the bloody rags I came here in, I don't have any cloths…." She said, rather embarrassed.

Jack straightened up, and turned around for the first time. She was feebly holding a pillow up in front of herself, her hair disheveled, and her black bloodied stitches sticking out from behind the white pillow made her a rather comical site. He bite his lower lip hard to keep from crying in laughter.

Realizing what he was thinking she threw the pillow at him forcefully, hitting him in the face. "oh shut up," she muttered with a grin as she stalked back off to the bedroom. He followed her quickly, gently pushing her up against the door.

"I'll get you some clothes," he said softly, a small grin still dancing in his eyes. He kissed her nose and backed away, dropping to his knees, and from under the bed producing a large variety of women's clothing. Kate raised an eyebrow.

"Jack…where did all these come from?" she asked slightly amused but more worried.

He swallowed hard, his actions catching up to him, making him embarassed. "I….," he swallowed bowing his head, " It's a…its been a rough few months…since you left." She felt tears come to her eyes, and she looked away to compose herself. He did the same.

" They'll be okay for a day" she said choking back the emotions that were still attempting to flood her voice.

She took the bag and picked out the least revealing materials, making a critical evaluation of the women Jack had been with over the last few months. She dubbed them slutty-mick-slut-slut 1 through X, since she had no idea how many women he had been with, decing she didn't really want an exact count, doubting he could even give it to her if she asked. There were at least 7 pairs of underwear, 5 bras, 3 skirts and 2 tops. She briefly wondered how they had left his apartment in the morning, and if any of them had been arrested for indecent exposure on the way out. Probably. Quickly dressing, she combed her hair, wishing briefly that one of them would have left some make up, before deciding she really didn't care, and then exited the bathroom, to see Jack had finally settled on a Boston Red Sox game, keys in one hand. He got up, kissed her lightly on the forehead and without saying a word, left the housethey left the house._Great _she thought..._this could be a long shopping trip_

* * *

To Kate delight, it ended up being wonderful, once Kate started up a conversation, letting Jack know she wasn't mad, he had visibly relaxed and they had a wonderful time. Jack had even learned that, to his utter horror, her favorite ice cream flavor was butter Pecan. After what Kate considered 2 hours too much of shopping, Jack and Kate pulled up, parking a block away and gathering their bags, laughing, walked the rest of the way to the apartment. As they got closer, they heard sirens and sped up their pace. Surrounding the remains of Jacks apartment building were 4 firetrucks, desperately trying to put out the fire, and having no luck, as paramedics rushed by, pulling bed after bed of injured and bloodie people into ambulences. Jack backed her to a wall, his face stoney, dropped the bag and said sternly "Kate stay here, do not move from here" he turned quickly and ran into the leading paramedic, offering his survice. 

He proceeded to help a patient on the bed as Kate looked on in horror. Her eyes scanned the area, landing on a black sedan , the driver still in the car. Her eyes traveled up and her heart stoped. Jason. He was standing next to the car, smirking. He waved casually at her, obviously amused by her horror. Both sets of eyes traveled to Jack, who was oblivious to the malicious and cruel murdering man standing not 10 feet away. Jason caught her eye again, still facing Jack, and raised his tumb and index finger, making a pretend gun, and pretended to aim and fire at Jack. He mouthed the word "bullseye" toward her, waved casually again and slid down into the passenger seat of the car and drove away.

* * *

...um...sorry for the long update...i must be the creative type b/c i have no sense of deadlines. Sorry about that. I will try harder to get stuff out in a more timly fashion. 

R and R, cause thats my motivation...without...well...I update irregularly and blow stuff up.

I hope the story is staying true to a LOst ish feel, while still being original . Lemme know if you think this is getting to crazy, not crazy enough, or just right.

..._PLEASE_ reveiw


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